Surging Flames hope history doesn't repeat

Vicki Hall, Postmedia News02.19.2012

Mike Cammalleri of the Calgary Flames celebrates a goal against the Los Angeles Kings in the third period at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on February 18, 2012. The Flames defeated the Kings 1-0.

Michael Cammalleri rapped in a shot at 4:03 of the third period to propel the Flames to a 1-0 victory over the Kings on Saturday night, moving Calgary...

CALGARY — The rancher in Brent Sutter came out to play Monday during a giddy post-practice scrimmage with country star Dierks Bentley and members of his band.

“I’ve always been a big country fan,” the Calgary Flames head coach said, stating the obvious. “I like his music.

“It’s an exciting time for him just skating out here at the Dome. I’m not so sure about having me out here skating with him, but . . .”

So far this season, crooner Michael Buble practised with the Vancouver Canucks and teen heartthrob Justin Bieber skated with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Trust Calgary to go country.

Dierks Bentley is definitely on Sutter’s playlist, although the coach is hardly in the mood for sappy ballads thanks to the success of his surging hockey team.

In spite of a rash of injuries to key regulars, the Flames have picked up at least a point in each of their last eight games heading into Tuesday’s home date with the Edmonton Oilers.

Technically, the Flames are deadlocked with the Los Angeles Kings for eighth place in the Western Conference with an identical 65 points. Calgary has more wins (shootout victories do not count), and therefore takes the tiebreaker.

If the playoffs started today, Calgary would take part for the first time in three years.

But recent history dictates playoff position in February and March means nothing come the second week of April.

“Last year we did get to a certain point and then we let it get away from us,” Sutter said. “Everything you go through you need to learn from.

“We can’t drop our guard. We’ve got to stay with it. There’s been absolutely nothing accomplished. We’ve put ourselves in a position that we wanted to be in at this point in time.

“Now we have to take advantage.”

The Flames failed to take advantage of a similar run last season after going 10 games without a regulation loss — and amassing 18 of a possible 20 points during that span — to climb up to fifth place in the Western Conference.

Then came the 1-4-2 skid in mid-March that proved the Coup de Grace for the Flames as they tumbled down the standings from fifth to 10th place.

“The bottom line is that last year we were in a good spot, and then we had a tough patch,” said defenceman Mark Giordano. “You can’t have a losing streak of three or four games at this time of year. It’s just going to bump you right out.

“For us, we’ve been getting points in games lately, and that’s the main thing.”

In other words, the Flames are happy to wake up in the morning — for the first time in nearly a calendar year — above the post-season cut-off line.

But no one is toasting the accomplishment with champagne and orange juice just yet.

“We have a lot of hockey left,” said centre Michael Cammalleri. “If we sit here content with where we sit right now, I don’t think we’ll be very content soon in where we stand.

“We need to keep getting better. We need to keep working hard. We need to be climbing, not worrying about just being in eighth spot.”

Complacency just doesn’t exist at this time of year, according to Jarome Iginla.

“It’s back to business,” the captain said. “Phoenix and L.A. play (Tuesday), you know someone is moving up. We have a chance to gain on someone, so there’s no rest.”

And no time for self-congratulatory pats on the back.

“We haven’t been discussing that in here today,” Iginla said. “It’s not like, ‘Hey man, we’re in eighth!’ We want to keep playing better. We think we’ve been coming on for a while. We want to keep that going and keep moving up.

“We’re going to keep moving higher.”

According to Sutter, the best way to move higher is to reflect on the mistakes of the not-so-distant past.

Otherwise, in the immortal words of Winston Churchill, those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

“It’s important to take care of your own business and worry about what you can do and keep pushing forward,” Sutter said. “It’s a focused group. We know we haven’t accomplished anything.

“We know we have to continue to push and move forward and treat each game like what it is for us. It’s playoff hockey for us.”

Calgary Herald

vhall@calgaryherald.com

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